S01 - Session O6 - Inheritance of purple colour and flavonoid profiling in F2 populations of tropical carrot (Daucus carota L.)

Authors: Selvakumar Raman, Pritam Kalia *

Results of a carrot inheritance study revealed that the single purple root epiderm ( Pe ) and cortex ( Pcx ) colour genes were dominant over the yellow colour of epiderm ( ye ) and cortex ( ycx ), respectively, whereas the yellow core ( Yc ) colour single gene was dominant over the purple core ( pc ) of carrot roots. Thus, dominant genes could be used for the exploitation of root colour heterosis. Flavonoid profiling of a carrot population revealed the presence of three acylated compounds and two non-acylated compounds of five cyanidin derivatives of anthocyanins in Black-Purple, Rose-Purple, Red-Purple and Grey-Purple coloured roots. The Grey-Purple roots were solid purple in the epidermal layer and the solid yellow in the outer core revealed the highest amounts of β-carotene and lutein. Eighteen polymorphic molecular markers, identified out of 420 SSR markers used in this study, were used for the genotyping of an F 2 mapping population developed from hybridization between two diverse inbreds possessing purple and yellow roots. Therefore, GSSR and BSSR markers will play an important role in the selection of anthocyanin-rich lines because of the precision required for phenotypic selection, say they are more cost-effectiveness and save time in the nutritional improvement of carrot through marker-assisted breeding.